Business Topics

Running short of dramatically new phone designs, leaders of the world’s wireless industry agree their next big idea is 5G, shorthand for the fifth generation of networks they expect to have up and running by 2020. But first they’ll have to decide what 5G needs to do that the current, ...

It would be another powerful tool in the arsenal of U.S. and British spy services: encryption keys for a large share of the SIM cards used for mobile phones. A report by the investigative news website The Intercept, citing leaked documents from former National ...

Apparently Google bloggers like to post porn. A lot. Just three days after saying sexually explicit material would be banned from public Blogger forum sites, Google is backing down. Faced with “a ton of feedback,” Google said Friday that it instead will “step up ...

Apple sent invitations Thursday for a mystery event due to take place March 9, amid speculation about an imminent launch of its much anticipated Apple Watch. The invitation simply said “Spring Forward,” referring to the fact that clocks will spring forward one hour in ...

Computers already have bested human champions in “Jeopardy!” and chess, but artificial intelligence now has gone on to master an entirely new level: “Space Invaders.” Google scientists have cooked up software that can do better than humans on dozens of Atari video games from ...

Incense smoke wafts through the cold air of the centuries-old Buddhist temple as a priest chants a sutra, praying for the peaceful transition of the souls of the departed. It is a funeral like any other in Japan. Except that those being honored are ...

There is growing demand for rugged smartphones and tablet computers that can withstand the dirt and knocks of field work, and manufacturers are responding with products that include high-definition displays, cameras and audio. The Torque G01, released by Kyocera Corp. for KDDI Corp.’s au ...

There are smiley, sad and heart emoji — and now, for the first time, there will be racially diverse emoji. Apple is preparing to release nonwhite faces in its lineup of the cartoon faces that some people use to liven up text and email ...

Reddit and Google are taking a tougher stance against nudity to prevent their services from turning into online peep shows. Social-networking and news site Reddit says it will remove photos, videos and links with explicit content if the person in the image hasn’t given ...

A little-known Silicon Valley startup was caught in a firestorm of criticism last week for making software that exposed Lenovo laptop users to hackers bent on stealing personal information. But Superfish Inc. has also won praise for producing visual search technology that many see ...

Experts say Lenovo, the world’s biggest computer maker, shipped laptops with preloaded software that could let hackers steal passwords or other sensitive information when you use the Web to shop, pay bills or check email. Lenovo said Thursday that it has disabled the offending ...

A sophisticated global cyberattack struck more than 100 banks in 30 countries stealing hundreds of millions of dollars, The New York Times reported Saturday. Citing a soon to be released report from computer security company Kaspersky Lab, the newspaper said the attack involved malicious ...

The days of calling your bank to tell them that yes, you really are in Thailand and yes, you really did use your credit card to buy $200 in sarongs may be coming to an end. The payment-processing company Visa will roll out a ...